State Assessments Quashed as Parallel Proceedings on Periods Already Sub Judice Are Impermissible. Issue Whether assessment orders passed by a State GST authority are legally valid when the tax periods and subject matter in question are already under adjudication (or sub judice) as a result of proceedings initiated by the Central GST authorities. Facts The… Read More »
Supreme Court to Examine Validity of Unsigned GST Orders After HC Quashed Demand. Issue Whether a GST demand order (FORM GST DRC-07) that is uploaded to the portal without a digital signature is legally invalid and void, or if the lack of a signature is a curable procedural defect. Facts An assessee challenged a GST… Read More »
HC Disposes of Writ as Infructuous After Tribunal President Assigns Case to New Bench. Issue Whether a High Court writ petition, filed to restrain a specific judicial member of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) from re-hearing a matter, becomes infructuous and can be disposed of once the President of the ITAT re-assigns the case… Read More »
Settlement Applications Filed Before Finance Act 2021 are “Pending” and Must Be Heard. Issue Whether an application filed with the Income Tax Settlement Commission (ITSC) after the introduction of the Finance Bill, 2021 (on Feb 1, 2021), but before the promulgation of the Finance Act, 2021 (on April 1, 2021), qualifies as a “pending application”… Read More »
Interest on Floating Funds from Bank Deposits is Eligible for 80P Deduction Issue Whether interest earned by a co-operative credit society from investing its temporary “floating funds” (working capital) in short-term bank deposits is “attributable to” its business of providing credit facilities and thus eligible for deduction under Section 80P(2)(a)(i). Facts The assessee, a co-operative… Read More »
Delay in Loss Return Condoned as CA’s Confusion on Complex TDR Issue is “Sufficient Cause”. Issue Whether a delay in filing a loss return under Section 139, caused by a Chartered Accountant’s bona fide confusion over a complex and unsettled legal issue (the tax treatment of TDR), constitutes “sufficient cause” for condonation under Section 119(2)(b),… Read More »
Reassessment Based Solely on DVO Report Without AO’s Independent Inquiry is Invalid. Issue Whether an Assessing Officer (AO) can validly assume jurisdiction to reopen an assessment under Section 147/148, based solely on a Departmental Valuation Officer’s (DVO) report, without conducting any independent inquiry or recording their own satisfaction with that report? Facts The assessee-firm filed… Read More »
Bogus LTCG Addition Quashed as Assessee’s Documentary Evidence Was Unrebutted. Issue Can an Assessing Officer (AO) make an addition under Section 68 for alleged bogus long-term capital gains (LTCG), when the assessee has provided a complete documentary trail (contract notes, demat statements, bank statements, STT proof) to substantiate the transactions, and the AO has failed… Read More »
Revision Invalid as AO’s View on Retrospective 10% Tolerance Limit Was Plausible. Issue Whether a Principal Commissioner (PCIT) can invoke revisionary jurisdiction under Section 263 to set aside an assessment order as “erroneous,” merely because the Assessing Officer (AO) took a plausible (but debatable) legal view by applying the 10% “safe harbour” tolerance limit for… Read More »
Failed 35(2AB) Claim Due to Missing Form 3CL Still Eligible for 100% R&D Deduction. Issue If a taxpayer’s claim for a weighted R&D deduction under Section 35(2AB) fails due to the non-submission of the mandatory quantification in Form 3CL, can they make an alternative claim for a 100% deduction of revenue R&D expenses (under Section… Read More »